The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism: Part III, Land of the Toys

“Located in the fictional land of Cocagne, Pleasure Island serves as a haven for wayward boys, allowing them to act as they please without recrimination. However, the truer and more sinister purpose of Pleasure Island is eventually revealed as it begins to physically transform the boys into donkeys, apparently by means of a curse.”
— Wikipeida “Land Of Toys”, as found in the Italian story The Adventures of Pinocchio.

“By the time the Grunge Era came around, the “slacker” and “loser” characters were heroes, the guys who knew that life was really all about having fun. We were a self-depreciating group of people who proudly declared that we were what our parents always wanted to be: laid back and carefree. “Loser” and “slacker” were terms of endearment. We knew that the whole suit-and-tie job was a one way ticket to becoming Principal Vernon from The Breakfast Club. So many of us ended up slacking our way into fast food jobs. We were the guys from Clerks.”
—5 Ways We Ruined the Occupy Wall Street Generation:John Cheese, Cracked.Com

So what’s the value of your college major? Let’s take a look shall we? (I’ll wait..)

Chronicle of Higher Education, Median Earnings by Major and Subject Area, click link to see original article.

So if you visit the link, you’ll see that the humanities and arts earn crap for wages. I make more as a Specialist in the Army ($35,000) than I would have as a counselor (~$29,000). The real kick in the teeth is that arts and humanities that aren’t part of a major university are funded by grants and charity. Guess what’s down with our bad economy? With so many people out there with degrees supply exceeds demand. It’s a sellers market. Many question the idea that college actually socializes people. Many students show small improvements over high school in learning.

“But at some point between my grandfather’s time and now, getting your hands dirty became something to be ashamed of. My generation perpetuated that. We made it socially unacceptable to:

A) Do any job that requires sweat and/or a uniform.

B) Work 70-hour weeks to get ahead.
—
John Cheese

There is a shortage of skilled factory workers because The Federal and State Governments have pimped college as some kind of investment. Those higher paying jobs go overseas, the crap jobs stay here. Universities got fat on student loan money, the students got the debt. We’d call that usury if done in any other industry.

What a life lesson these 20-somethings are learning. The law of supply and demand trumps a sheepskin. Always has. Always will. I am 58 years old and no one has ever asked what my GPA is. People come to this blog and they don’t know whether I have a PhD or an eighth-grade education. They judge me on what I have to say and how I say it.

Underemployment rocks because it knocks out that sense of entitlement. People also learn what real work is.
…
“I thought that me having a biology degree was a gold ticket for me getting into places, but every other job wants you to have previous history in the field,” he said. Edwards, who has about $5,500 in student debt, recently met with a career counselor at Middle Tennessee State University. The counselor’s main advice: Pursue further education.

In The Adventures of Pinocchio, wayward boys turning into donkeys symbolizes what we call teens abandoning education. The children-turned donkeys are sold to salt mines in the story and Disney version of the film. In Italian culture, the donkey are associated with stupidity. It’s stupidity of a different kind that turns youth into entitled leftist jackasses. Young people are told that college is the natural place to go after school. College is dumbed down: the “hook up” culture, easy fluff courses (for credit), lowered standards and no academic rigor. Students think they can keep acting like a teenager (or child) until they graduate. And the attitude continues when it’s time to payback the loans.

Crushing debt and a shitty resume are a ticket to the salt mines of today. Many “college graduates” are working low paying service jobs now. The economy is in the dumps so there are engineers and physicists waiting tables, I’ll concede that. But a hard science or computer science major has jobs waiting no matter what. Those with soft subjects have to buck up or be the economy’s bitch. Those who went to party, those who think the world owes them a living are in for a rude awakening just like the wayward boys in the Land Of Toys.
(h/t: Ace of Spades April 24, 2012
Overnight Open Thread (4-24-2012),& instapundit)

3 Responses to “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism: Part III, Land of the Toys”

[…] So college is just the high school after high school, a place were kids become adults who act like kids. Most don’t even learn because they don’t think have to. Promised easy A’s and a career they can coast through 4 years and rack up the debt. […]